Effect of rare-earth ion doping on the multiferroic properties of BiFeO sub(3) thin films grown epitaxially on SrTiO sub(3)(100)

• Published in: Journal of physics. D, Applied physics Vol. 46; no. 17; pp. 175006 - 1-9
• Main Authors: Lazenka, V V, Lorenz, M, Modarresi, H, Brachwitz, K, Schwinkendorf, P, Boentgen, T, Vanacken, J, Ziese, M, Grundmann, M, Moshchalkov, V V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.05.2013
• Subjects: Doped films; Doping; Ferroelectric materials; Ferroelectricity; Ferromagnetism; Magnetization; Rare earth metals; Thin films
• ISSN: 0022-3727
• DOI: 10.1088/0022-3727/46/17/175006

High-quality epitaxial Bi sub(1-x)RE sub(x)FeO sub(3) (RE=La, Nd, Gd; x = 0, 0.05, 0.15) thin films were prepared on SrTiO sub(3)(100) substrates using pulsed laser deposition. X-ray diffraction and RBS-channelling spectroscopy showed that the films are single-phase perovskite, free of additional phases and textured with preferential orientation along the [100] direction. The dependences of magnetization on temperature and field showed that the films exhibit weak ferromagnetic properties. Among the studied rare-earth doping ions, Bi super(3+) substitution by Gd super(3+) most considerably enhanced the ferromagnetic properties. Substitution by La super(3+) smoothened out the surface morphology, which is important for different potential applications. Both undoped and doped films showed clear ferroelectric response in piezoresponse force microscopy, thus confirming their multiferroic nature. The doping was found to promote a preferential ferroelectric poling of the domains.